In the manufacturer of various semiconductor devices, wire bonding techniques are often used to connect components in the devices. For example, wire bonds are often used to provide interconnection between a die and contacts on a leadframe. An exemplary conventional wire bonding operation involves (1) bonding to a first bonding location on a die (e.g., using ball bonding), (2) extending a wire toward a second bonding location on a leadframe, (3) bonding the end of the extended wire to the second bonding location, and (4) cutting the wire.
There is continuous pressure in the semiconductor industry to reduce the size of components, and also to increase the number of wire bonds per unit area. Thus, various techniques exist to reduce the profile or height of wire bonds between components in semiconductor devices. One such technique involves “crushing” (e.g., using a capillary tool) a wire loop on top of the first bonding location (e.g., a die) after depositing a wire ball on the first bonding location. After the wire is crushed on top of the wire ball, the wire is then extended toward, and bonded to, the second bonding location.
This “crushing” technique may provide relatively low profile wire loops; however, this technique also suffers from a number of deficiencies. For example, because the wire is crushed, there are certain points of weakness in the wire, primarily in the region just downstream of the crushed portion. This weakness may result in unsatisfactory and inconsistent pull values in a number of applications.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for providing low profile wire bonds while overcoming certain of the deficiencies related to conventional techniques.